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VOLUME ONE.
NO. TWENTY-ONE.
PLEASURE GROUNDS OF THE SOUTH
OME years ago the entire country be
came interested and agitated by a re
mark of one of the most prominent of
American financiers that “vacations
were an unnecessary waste of time, en
ergy and money. ’ ’ In refutation of
this sentiment interviews were had with
men in all classes of life and the con
census of opinion was against the ver-
0
diet of the financier, who although himself an oc
togenarian of unusual vigor, has never won from
the great American public anything more gratify
ing than his hoard of dollars. The vacation habit
has grown steadily from year to
year and it has proven an econ
omic measure in the business
world and in the domestic one as
well. Hard worked clerks need a
rest and change and the same is
true of housekeepers, heads of fam
ilies and business men and women
the world over. The custom, too,
is one of wider significence than
would appear on the surface and
the establishment of summer hotels
in the comparatively unpopulat
ed parts of the country has served
as a civilizing agent of no mean
power. This is most especially
true of the South and no one part
of the country is better adapted
for the entertainment of large
masses of the people than is this
favored section. Climatic condi
tions in the South have always
made a change desirable in the
summer months and even before
the days of easy transportation
wealthy families made a regular
hegira each year from coast towns
to mountain tops or from the hills
to sea level. These annual pil
grimages were conducted with
much state and ceremony, the jour-
ney often being made in private conveyance and the
party including all the domestic servants and the
numerous attendants on a large family. Then, too,
the goal was almost invariably a hospitable summer
home, where guests were entertained with the lavish
liberality that has made the Old South famous. The
advent of railroads and of the huge summer cara
vansaries have changed all this, however, and now
the people of the United States have won for them
selves the distinction of spending more time in sum
mer hotels than any other people of the world.
The South offers so great a variety of climate, scen
ery and creature comforts that it is impossible to
describe individual localities, but at this season,
when so many persons are considering, ‘ 1 Where to
go for the summer,” it may be well to make men-
* ' ’ *
PHOTO BY V. G. SCHRECK.
ATLANTA, GA., JULY 12, 1906.
By S. T. DALSHEIMER.
tion of some of the chief points of attraction in the
South. Each individual state has some special fea
ture that should appeal to those seeking diversion,
but there is no state which combines in itself the di
versified features that may be found in Georgia
alone. Here we have the broad Atlantic on the
south with its glorious width of beach, its fresh salt
breezes and its life-giving ozone. The chain of is
lands which encircle South Georgia have become
famous as seaside resorts, and as evidence of this we
have the fact that from all the land the multi-mil
lionaires of the North chose Jekyl Island (near
Brunswick) as a fitting site for their marble palaces
A TYPICAL SCENE IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS.
which are used merely as resorts of pleasure and
relaxation. Then, too, Cumberland Island, not fa’’
from Jekyl, and Tybee Island, off the port 01 tai .Jr
nah, are other resorts which offer every possible at
traction. Tybee is more than a mere pleasure
ground; it has historic records dating as far back as
the occupancy of the old Spanish explorers. We
know that as early as “1520, Lucas Vasquez Ayllon
of Santo Domingo, dispatched a caravan m;der
Francisco Gordillo” on a voyage of discovery which
resulted in the landing of the expedition at what is
new known as Tybee Island, at the mouth of the
Savannah River. Tybee has figured as a desirable
port of entry in each conflict that America hits
known, and Fort Pulaski on Tybee Island suffered
severe bombardment by the Federal Batteries in
1862. Today Tybee is marked by the restored walls
of this same fort as well as by a handsome new fort
(Ft. Screven), both of which contrast oddly enough
with the old Martello Tower, a relic of the old Span
ish occupancy. But the people of Georgia ignore
the past of Tybee and are content with the joys it
offers in the present. But the seaside resorts of
Georgia mark but one feature of the state’s pleas
ure grounds, for here we have the mountains as
well as the sea, and all will remember that “The
Hills of Habersham” have been made famous in
song and story, and their beauty will live forever
in the memory of man, for it has been crystalized
of Habersham and its adjoining county of Rabun that
the people have remained almost as primitive as the
original r dwellers. But the summer hotels and
the omnipresent railriad are the vanguard of civil
zation and gradually the people of Habersham and
Rabun are beginning to feel the stir of the national
life and are benefiting proportionately thereby.
So gradually, as almost to defy description, this
change is taking place, and it is most evident to
the visitor who spends a part of each summer at
Tallulah, for he will note the rough ignorant moun
tain girl of yesterday, who stood and stared wifi
‘open-mouthed wonder at the great hotel and its
guests has evolved into the neat-handed serving
maid of today; still curious, still interested, but
learning, oh, how rapidly all the “tricks and man-
TWO DOLL AES A YEAR.
FIVE CENTS A COPY.
into immortal form by the poet’s
magic. Close locked within the
fastnesses of these hills, as though
nature were guarding some rare
jewel, lie the beautiful Tallulah
Falls, in all their charm of varied
loveliness. Naturally, the people
of the state have sought this spot
from year to year and its fame
has grown with the passing of
time until today it is one of the
favored resorts of the country.
Situated within the confines of
Habersham County, Tallulah is
reached by a small railroad wind
ing its way in picturesque fashion
among the hills, and leading the
traveler along one of the richest
parts of the state. The summer
visitor to Tallulah, if he be gifted
with a love of nature as well as
with a warm feeling for humanity,
will find endless matter for reflec
tion and for enjoyment 'at the
Falls. In addition to the beauties
and wonders of the panorama of
nature everywhere displayed, there
is the human drama which is be
ing constantly enacted in these
hills. For so many years has ac
cess been difficult to the interior
